I’m Phillip Stout and this is my story of how I became involved in the Nine Rivers Distillery Project.
I suppose my first real experience with whisky was with my older brother in his mission to try and drag me away from the sweet, bottled drinks that I was so fond of. I don’t know what he poured for me but it was vile. Beers and whiskies just weren’t my thing and I guzzled my hard lemonades and appletinis as I pleased.
Such was the case for many years until I accidentally fell into whisky through a Chinese bartender here in Shenzhen. It was a local swanky place where he was one of the managers.
I still remember that night vividly, with him giving me a lot of information about whisky; we slipped in-between Chinese and English as our respective vocabularies limited us in descriptions of our favorite drinks, but I remember him pulling a bottle labeled of a peated Highlands whisky and pouring me a sample to try. “It tastes like…a campfire,” he told me. Indeed, it tasted like I had fallen face-first into exactly that, and I loved it.
Ever since I’ve arrived in Shenzhen, I’ve not intentionally sought out expat communities. I came to China because I had studied Chinese at my university and wanted to improve. I lived away from Nanshan, the foreigner-dense district, and chose to live in Luohu, a district much more local. Most of my friends and groups are Chinese. However, for good Western food, I’ll travel.
There was a pizza place far from my home I really enjoyed going to. It was a bit early in the evening and I was supposed to be meeting some friends later. Since I had some time to kill, I wanted a drink, but the only choices on offer were bourbon or wine. I ordered the bourbon and took out my games console, put on my headphones, and waited for my drink and my friends, in that order.
There was only one other person in the restaurant. He appeared to be in his fifties, obviously American like me, and he kept glancing at me before finally deciding to speak up. I could not have looked any more disinterested in conversation, but I decided to humor him and engage. After all, it takes a certain level of self-confidence to speak to someone wearing noise-cancelling headphones.
We talked for a little while, and when he was leaving, he commented on my bourbon. He asked if I liked whisky and I said a little, noting that I’m not a professional or expert. He offered to invite me into a WeChat group with whisky lovers. He warned me about the group, saying the members take it very seriously, to never post pictures of whisky with ice, to never comment unless I knew what I was talking about, and to stay silent until I understood the group dynamic. Well, I’m mostly a lurker anyway, so this wasn’t a problem.
This whisky group ended up being one of the best things to happen to me in this city. It turns out that man was completely wrong; members were welcome to comment on whatever they wanted as long as they felt passionate about what they were sharing, even if it was a certain unspeakable cinnamon-sugary whisky, and they could both give and take the good-natured ribbing.
It reminded me of my drinks and chats with my older brother. I started buying whisky from the group and participating more in conversations. When an announcement happened for a Shenzhen whisky night, I was all too eager to attend to sample some expensive bottles. It was at these nights I met the leader of the WeChat group himself.
When it was announced in the group that there was a project in the works to open a distillery, I was eager to learn more. What attracted me most about the project was that this was not a “throw money at a project” kind of deal. The main guy behind the project wasn’t bothered by my lack of whisky knowledge, he just wanted interested and passionate people to take part.
I got involved not only as an investor, but also in offering my writing and editing services to the project on a lot of the social media content. Perhaps as you, dear reader, continue to learn more about us, you’ll stumble upon some of my work. No matter how much you may know (or don’t) about whisky, I’m pretty certain you’re going to pick up something new. As I read others’ comments and experiences, I know I have. 干杯！
Phillip Stout
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